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5 Painful WWE Botches

22 Sep 2016

5. Ryback Botches Shell Shock

Many questions have arisen as a result of this botch. Did Tensai mistime going up for the Shell Shock? Did Ryback botch his own finisher? Or could Tensai have even tried to sandbag Ryback? One thing that is certain, is that the big guy was humiliated. After, not one attempt but two, Ryback bailed on the finisher. Instead, he finished Tensai off using a meat hook clothesline, calling him “stupid” on several accounts. It is important to mention, that Ryback has botched this finisher before on Paul Heyman and even, CM Punk. So therefore it appears that Ryback did not execute the move properly, as Ryback’s head is up against Tensai’s chest area, and so the weight is unevenly distributed. Ryback has performed this finisher on two jobbers at the same time, totalling over 300 pounds, so it can’t have been a weight problem.

4. Randy Orton Botches RKO on Big Show

Was it Randy’s fault or was it the Big Show’s mistake for not falling the way he was supposed to? It is unusual to see a smooth, fluid and gifted in-ring performer like Randy Orton to botch a move. On February 2012 on Monday night RAW, Orton fails to deliver an RKO on the Big Show, who nonetheless collapses onto the mat as if he was RKO’d.

3. CM Punk Botches GTS on Kane

For those of you who have not seen this, this is what happens when you try to perform a move on a guy much taller than you. The GTS, or Go to Sleep, involves Punk lifting his opponent onto his shoulders and hoisting them over his head to deliver a knee to the head. In this case, it was a knee to the gut. CM Punk actually attempted this move twice and got the same result both times, causing fans to react accordingly. The first take was edited off the broadcast. Maybe Punk should have considered employing a different finishing move for considerably taller wrestlers.

2. Brock Lesnar Botches Shooting Star Press

This is one of the most famous botches in WWE history, which happened at WrestleMania XIX in 2003. During his match against Kurt Angle, Brock Lesnar climbed the turnbuckle, to the top rope, and attempted a shooting star press, which is a difficult move to perform for his size requiring precision and agility. He has successfully performed the move numerous times in the past but unfortunately on this occasion, he completely botched it, landing on his head and missing Kurt Angle. He had suffered a concussion, but somehow managed to finish the match with an F5 to Kurt Angle to win.

1. Owen Hart Breaks Stone Cold Steve Austin’s Neck

Ah, who remembers this botch? At Summerslam in 1997 Stone Cold Steve Austin went head to head with Owen Hart for the Intercontinental Championship. Austin was supposed to win the title, which indeed happened, but nowhere near the way it was scripted. Owen Hart was meant to hit Stone Cold with a tombstone piledriver but placed the Rattlesnake’s head too far below his leg and consequently dropped him right on top of his head, breaking his neck. This left Austin temporarily paralysed and gave him a bruised spinal cord leading to further neck problems. In conjunction with knee problems this hampered his career and led to a premature retirement in 2003. Fortunately for Austin, he is doing fine nowadays but the incident will never be forgotten.